Lubricant-feeding apparatus for internal combustion engines



March 19, 1940. J. F. J. CLEMENTSON 2,194,007

LUBRICANT FEEDING APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed March 30, 1938 INVENTOR J. F. J. C LE MENTSON av W W W A TTYS,

Patented Mar. 19, 1940 umrso STATES LUBRICANT-FEEDING APPARATUS Foe 1N- TERNALYCOMBUSTION ENGINES Johan Ferdinand Julius Clernentson,

assignor to C. & S. Clementson,

Sweden,

Malmo,

Malmo-Limhamn, Sweden, a firm composed of Messrs. Carl Clementson and Sven Clementson Application March 30, 1938, Serial No.'199,013 In Sweden November 5, 1937 4 Claims. (01. 123196) The present invention relates to apparatus for admission of a certain predetermined quantity of lubricant oil to the valves, cylinders and pistons in internal combustion engines when starting the same.

In order completely to eliminate the wear du to corrosion in internal combustion engines, it has been found necessary to introduce into the same a relatively large quantity of a corrosion opposing lubricant oil when starting the engine in cold condition, whereas the normal quantity of such corrosion opposing oil usually admixed with the fuel is suflicient to prevent corrosion wear at the continued running of the engine when it has reached the normal'running tempcrature.

The inventionprovides for an automatically acting apparatus for such purpose, and its main feature is a smaller measuring container the volume of which corresponds to the quantity of lubricant oil intended to be fed into the engine at the start. This measuring container stands in communication with a supply container from which the lubricant oil is fed into the former by means of hydrostatic pressure, or otherwise, and with the intake manifold of the engine, and the measuring container is provided with valve means for control of the oil inlet from the supply container and of the oil outlet to the engine, the control being effected; under influence from a force of known strength arisingyor being liberated, when starting the engine in cold condition and acting in sucha manner that the inlet to the measuring container is closed substantially simultaneously with the opening of the outlet from the same to the engine. The said force occurring when starting the engine may be generated, for instance, by electric current when 0108- ing the engine circuits (such as for ignition or self-starting, etc.) the ordinary engine lubricating oil pressure, the vacuum within the engine suction pipings or the increased pressure within the exhaust, pipings, compressed air pressure, when using compressed air for self-starting purposes, or any other force or power whatever generated, or liberated, when starting the en gine, such force acting in a suitable manner upon means for control of the valve means combined with the measuring container.

eliminating the influence of the said force upon the valve means as soon as the engine has reached a certain running temperature, so that no admission of lubricant oil from the measur- ;ing container will take place thereafter.

The apparatus jmay also be provided with suitable means for An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying diagrammatical drawin which shows the different parts of construction seen in vertical section, when supposing that a closing of the electric circuit through the selfstarter also closes the circuit through an electrically actuated control means for the valve means referred to.

Inthe drawing, I is the supply container for the lubricant oil which preferably consists of a corrosion opposing oil of a known kind, and a certain quantity of which is also admixed with the fuel oil in the proportion ordinarily employed.

By means of hydrostatic pressure, or otherwise,

the oil is fed from the container I through a pipe 2 into the smaller measuring container 4 which at its upper end is provided with an-inlet 3 connected with the pipe 2, and at its lower end with an outlet l5 communicating with a pipe l6 connected with theintake manifold ll of the engine closely adjacent to the engine cylinders.-

The measuring container. encloses a valve means consisting of a spindle [2 extending vertically through the said container andprovided at its upper end witha valve plate l3 adapted for closing the inlet from the supply container I, whereas the lower end of the spindle is provided with a valve plate l4 adapted for closing the outlet to the intake manifold ll of the en-- gine. The measuring container is also provided with an air vent 5. I

The Valve spindle i2 is kept in its lowermost position by means of a tension spring 28, and in such position the valve plate i i closes the outlet from the measuring container to the pipe l5, whereas the valve plate is leaves open the inlet from the supply container l.

The lowermost end of the spindle I2 is connected with a lever 1 metallic body of the engine over a thermostatie cally influenced switch Zfi-Z'I, and the minus pole of the ordinary storage battery fi is also' connected with said body. The opposite terminal of the solenoid winding is connected with by means of a cross pin extending 1 the ordinary circuit 8 of the engine in such a v manner, that the solenoid is switched on to the 7 storage battery simultaneously with other portions of the ordinary engine circuit (for ignition or self-starter, etc.). Hence, the solenoid and the thermostatic switch are together coupled in parallel with the engine circuit 8.

The thermostatic switch may be of any suitable known type, and in the drawing it is supposed to include a flexible bellows 23 filled with an easily volatile liquid and counter-sunk within the cooling jacket of the cylinder head of the engine so as permanently to be subjected to the temperature at hand at this place. The free upper end of the bellows 23 supports a spindle 25 provided with a movable contact 26 of the switch, whereas the other contact 2'! of the same is fixed and insulated from the cylinder block. On the other hand, the movable contact 26 is electrically connected with the metallic body of the engine.

The manner of action of the apparatus described is as follows:

When the engine is kept stopped and cold, the valve spindle I2 is kept in its lower position by means of the spring 28, and the valve plate I4 closes the outlet I5 from the measuring container 4, whereas the valve plate I3 leaves open the inlet 3 to the said container. The measuring container will then be filled by the oil admitted from the supply container I by the pipe 2, simultaneously as the air escapes through the vent 5. Hence, the measuring container 4 during normal conditions, i. e. when the apparatus is out of action, is always kept filled with oil from the supply container.

When the engine is cold, the bellows 23 of the thermostatic switch is contracted and keeps the contacts 26, 21 pressed against each other. When starting the engine, the circuit through the self-starter is closed by the manually operated switch means I, and simultaneously the solenoid 9 coupled in parallel therewith is energized. Then the core I is attracted and lifts the lever arm II which acts upon the spindle I2 of the valve means within the measuring container, so that the valve plate I3 closes the inlet 3 whereas the valve plate I4 opens the outlet IS. The oil accumulated within the measuring container will then flow down through the pipe I 6 into the intake manifold I! of the engine, and from there it will be passed through the engine valves I8 together with the fuel and the combustion air entering the combustion chamber I9 in which the oil is deposited on the cylinder walls 20 and pistons H. The admittance of oil from the supply container I to the measuring container has been simultaneously interrupted, however, so that no new quantity of oil can pass down into the latter as long as the outlet I therefrom is kept open. A cock valve 22 mounted in the outlet pipe I6 serves to control the rapidity of the discharge of oil from the measuring container.

When the temperature of the engine is increasing, the thermostat bellows 23 expands so that the contacts 26 and 21 are separated as soon as a certain temperature has been reached. Thereby the circuit through the solenoid 9 is interrupted, and the spring 28 returns the valve spindle I2 together with the lever arm II and the core I!) into their starting positions. Thereby the outlet I5 from the measuring container 4 is closed again, simultaneously as the inlet 3 to the same is re-opened, so that the measuring container will be re-filled from the supply container I through the pipe 2.

At the continued running of the engine, the quantity of corrosion opposing oil admixed with the fuel will be suificient completely or mainly to prevent corrosion wear within the engine. As long as the engine is sufiiciently hot and the contacts 26 and 2'! are kept apart by the thermostat bellows 23, the circuit cannot be closed through the solenoid 9, even in case the engine is stopped for a short period and re-started again.

It ought to be evident that the invention is not limited to the embodiment thereof described in the foregoing and shown in the annexed drawing, as such embodiment forms an example only chosen for the sake of explanation of the invention, and it may be varied in many respects within the scope of the same. The force generated, or liberated, when starting the engine in cold condition and serving to actuate the valve means in connection with the measuring container may emanate from the lubricant oil pressure in the ordinary lubricating system of the engine instead of being electric current passed through the engine circuit, and such oil pressure may for instance be adapted by means of a piston reciprocable within a cylinder directly to act upon the lever arm II or the valve spindle I2. Any other force whatever arising in connection with the starting of the engine may likewise be employed for the same purpose, such as for instance the vacuum within the intake manifold of the engine, the pressure within the exhaust pipe, or a dynamic power generated directly by the engine. In connection herewith, the thermostatic device adapted to interrupt the transmission of this force, or power, to the valve means in connection with the measuring container ought naturally also to be constructed in a suitable manner for serving its purpose. When the valve means are pressure controlled, the thermostatic device may for instance act directly on a valve means adapted to interrupt the admission of the actuating pressure to the control mechanism. The construction of the thermostatic device is also rather irrelevant, and it may be of the bimetalio type, for instance, or consist of any other suitable thermostatically acting device whatever. Many other constructional details may also be varied in relation to those shown in the drawing, within the scope of the invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a lubricant-feeding apparatus for internal combustion engines and of the character described, a supply container or the lubricant oil, a measuring container having an inlet means in communication with the supply container and an outlet means in communication with the intake suction pipings of the engine, valve means provided in connection with the measuring container and adapted to control the inlet thereto from the supply container and the outlet therefrom to the engine so that an opening of the outlet from the measuring chamber is performed substantially simultaneously with a closing of the inlet from the supply container, an actuating device adapted to be controlled by a force, or power, generated, or liberated, in connection with the starting of the engine, and thereby to shift the positions of the valve means, and a thermostatic means standing under influence of the engine temperature and adapted to interrupt the transmission of the controlling force, or power, to the valve means shifting device when the engine has reached a desired running temperature.

2. In a lubricant-feeding apparatus according to claim 1, the additional feature that a control valve means is interposed in the piping connecting the measuring container with the engine and adapted to control the'rate of flow through said piping.

3. In a lubricant-feeding apparatus for internal combustion engines and of the character described, a supply container for the lubricant oil, a measuring container having an inlet means in communication with the supply container and an outlet means in communicationwith the intake suction pipings of the engine, valve means provided in connection with the measuring container and adapted to control the inletthereto from the supply container and the outlettherefrom to the engine so that an opening of the outlet from the measuring container is performed substantially simultaneously with a closing of the inlet from the supply container, means for shifting the valve means into the position just mentioned, and thermostatically acting means standing under influence of the engine temperature and adapted to reverse the positions of the valve means when said temperature has reached a predetermined running value.

4. In a lubricant-feeding apparatus according to claim 3, the additional feature that a control valve means is interposed in the piping connecting the measuring container with the engine and adapted to control the rate of flow through said piping.

JOHAN FERDINAND JULIUS CLEMENTSON. 

